Soul Mates Saga I: The Defeat of Naraku
by Raniatlw
Summary: On Hold. Inuyasha has a bit of a temper tantrum when Kagome suggests she should learn how to fight. Chapter 5 is new! Please R&R!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** Hey! Here's a glimpse at a little part of an Inuyasha story I plan on writing very soon. I hope you enjoy! Please R&R!

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Inuyasha.

**Soul mates (tentative title):**

He loved her pure and simple. Loved her with every fiber in his body, with his entire being. He lived for her and only her. To have her taken away would mean his death.

He'd known this for a long time now. It's funny it seemed sudden. One minute she was just his first friend that he trusted and cared about and the next she became his soul.

When did he realize that he couldn't live without her? Was it the first time she threatened to leave and never come back? Surely. But he actually didn't know for sure. Honestly he couldn't believe he'd felt anything different towards her, ever. But he had at one point.

When did his feelings change? Perhaps it wasn't one moment where instantly he fell in love. Perhaps, it was many moments; every single one they shared turned him. Little by little she was all that mattered to him, until he couldn't breathe properly if she was too long from his sight.

Her absences choked him, left him feeling empty. It was only when she was back with him that he could breathe easy, could continue living.

So, he loved her completely and truly. So why hadn't he told her?

"Inuyasha?" There was her sweet voice, quietly calling to him. "Would you come down please? I brought you some dinner."

He stared down at her from the branches of Goshinboku. The moon was out that night and it glowed brightly. It bathed her in a soft glow, radiating her pale skin. The weather was warm but the soft breeze cooled their skin. It blew through the air; softly rustling her raven locks, blowing her soft vanilla scent towards his sensitive nose.

He jumped down abruptly, with no warning, landing right before her. She jumped back and let out a slight gasp.

"Come on," he said, his voice coming out a little gruff. He tugged on her arm, gently, pulling her towards the well. He sat down and waited for her to follow suit. She looked at him quizzically; no doubt she thought he was acting strange, a little unlike himself. Finally she sunk down and sat next to him. She was acting odd as well, he thought, not at all her talkative cheerful self.

"Here you go." She handed him the covered dish and pulled up her knees, hugging them to her chest.

He wasn't hungry really, but he felt a strong need to please her that night. So he ate silently, watching her gazing at the stars. He listened carefully for her content sighs, for the sound of her breathing. It was so calming to have her near.

"Inuyasha?" He was watching her so intently that for a minute he didn't even realize she had spoken.

"Yes," he finally answered.

"Is there…is there something on your mind, that you'd like to share? I mean you've been acting strange lately. You've…been avoiding me," she said. He winced at the sound of hurt in her voice.

It was true; his frustration with his feelings had left him a bit distant. Though, he had barely left her side, he still was not his usual self.

How was he to answer her question? An outright truthful answer is what he desperately wanted to give. But the truth could hurt. What if she didn't feel the same? He'd die.

She placed a soft hand on top of his own bigger one, and he fought hard not to gasp at her touch.

"Inuyasha…. it's all right, you know you can tell me anything," she encouraged.

'Yeah, right,' he inwardly scoffed. 'It's just that I love you madly and want you to be my mate is all.'

Yeah that would go over well. She'd probably recoil and cringe at that.

Except when had he known Kagome to cringe at anything he did? Not even when he transformed to his full demon self. Dangerous and potentially deadly, Kagome came to him at those times instead of ran like she should have. Funny how she was the only one who could get through to him. That had to mean something didn't it?

"Inuyasha?" she asked worriedly.

He lifted his golden gaze from where it previously rested on the ground to meet her chocolate brown worried stare.

"Did I…Did I do something? Umm…to make you mad. Or hurt you?" she asked, unsure of herself.

He hated himself for making her doubt herself.

"No Kagome, you didn't," he assured her.

"Are you sure? Because if I did, I'm sorry. I care about you and I never would want to hurt you," she reiterated, her eyes prickled with unshed tears. She was desperate to have her old hanyou back.

Her tears were the one thing he could not stand and despite his feelings of holding back, he pulled her into his embrace and hugged her tightly.

He felt her tears soak his haiori and he just wanted to kick himself.

"Shh… Kagome. Don't cry Kagome. Anything but that," he said soothingly.

They'd been having a tough time with their search for the shards and battles with Naruku and his minions. Kagome was suffering a lot. She hadn't been home in over a month and to top it off he had made it worse.

He whispered soothing words to her not really thinking about them, not really hearing himself, only listening for Kagome's muffled sobs to die down. When she stiffened in his arms, it came as a great surprise to him.

"Kagome, what's wrong?" he asked unsurely.

She pulled back and he saw her eyes were wide in wonder, sparkling with her tears.

"You…" she breathed out. "You…you said you love me."

Her voice came out barely louder than a whisper, but his keen doggy ears caught her words. His own eyes opened wide and his mouth dropped open. In his attempt to soothe her it turned out he had confessed the one thing he hadn't known how to confess.

"Do you…. really? Dou love me?" she asked, her voice and eyes full of hope. Hope that he did love her and that it wasn't just her imagination.

"I do," he confessed, solemnly. He was slightly alarmed when her eyes fluttered shut and she looked as if she were in pain, a tear slipping from her shut eyes. And he was quite pained to see that he'd made her cry all over again.

Just when he was about to take his confession back, Kagome opened her eyes and launched herself into his embrace, planting kisses all over his face. He was quite taken aback by her show of affection, but he let himself relax and enjoy the moment. But just as suddenly, she stopped, pulling back.

"Oh…I love you too Inuyasha," she cried out happily.

He looked at her disbelievingly for a moment, until he cracked a smile. This was the best day of his life, he decided.

He pulled her in close for a long kiss; with every touch of his lips he told her he loved her and with every sigh of content she told him the same.

The day, the week, the month, that had begun so frustrating was now coming to a happy close. He had received what he had wished for most, the love of his life. And she received hers.

As the day came to a close, he joined her in her return home. For he couldn't bear to leave her side before, how could he now?

* * *

Well that's it. I hope you like. I want to post more of this story. It will be of course about Inuyasha and Kagome and hopefully my original character and a certain other Inuyasha character. Don't worry I don't mess with canon parings.

So please review and let me know what you think.

Thanks!


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Well here's the next chapter of my story, introducing my original character. I hope you like. Please R&R!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Inuyasha.

**Chapter 2:**

"Lady Keiseki, you must be very excited!"

Keiseki stared at Sumi, one of her more mindless maids, as she giggled. Keiseki on the other hand looked anything but excited.

"Oh, I'm ecstatic," Keiseki replied sarcastically.

Sumi looked at Keiseki with a confused look, contemplating why Keiseki wouldn't be happy about her pending marriage. Sumi tossed it up to nerves, and continued chattering as she did Keiseki's hair.

Keiseki drowned Sumi out. She was thoroughly depressed; her fiancé, Lord Kanaye of the Southern lands, would be here the next day and Keiseki wanted anything but to marry him. Her parents, on the other hand, wanted this match very badly. They needed this alliance with the Southern lands; afraid that the Youkai lord of the Western lands would one day choose to attack their own land, the Northern lands, they wanted powerful allies.

But Keiseki didn't want any of this, ever since she was a child she'd wanted an adventure, wanted to roam the lands, battle bandits and evil youkai. She was never able to sit still for very long, something that dismayed her parents. But they loved her and allowed her to train with the commander of their small army and for that she was grateful. They'd even forged her her own sword.

Her fiancé had made it quite clear from the start that he wanted a proper wife. Once they were married she'd not be allowed to practice with her sword, or train whatsoever.

Keiseki let out a loud depressed sigh that stopped Sumi's efforts of taming her wild two toned hair, black streaked with red.

Just then her mother walked in to hear the end of her sigh.

"Keiseki, still not feeling well?" her mother asked concernedly.

Keiseki looked up to see her mother, the elegant Lady Minako, frowning at her slightly. "Hello mother." She couldn't disguise the dismay in her voice.

"Sumi, leave us please," her mother commanded.

"Certainly my lady," Sumi instantly replied, leaving at once.

Lady Minako walked towards her daughter kneeling down next to her. Keiseki refused to meet her mother's gaze.

Lifting Keiseki's chin with her hand she spoke up, "I've never seen one so depressed as you two days before their wedding. What is it that you want Kei?"

Keiseki looked straight into her mother's eyes and replied, "You know what I want mother."

Her mother saw the desperation in her daughter's eyes. It broke her heart to tell her daughter that she could not have what she wanted.

"Kei, as a daughter from a noble house you must make some sacrifices for your people. We need this alliance," her mother strained to inform her.

"Why? Why do we need this alliance? The lord from the western lands has never threatened us. Half the time he's not even at his castle, or so they say. He has no interest in us," Keiseki replied adamantly.

"That is all true," her mother replied, sighing before continuing. "But this could all change in the future. Who knows how a youkai's mind works, maybe next year he'll suddenly consider us in his way and decide to attack."

Keiseki walked away from her mother and flopped down onto her bed. "Not all youkai are bad," she muttered.

She had a vague recollection of a beautiful man with long silver hair picking her up after she'd fallen down a hill and being returned to her parents. Somehow she knew that he was a youkai.

Her mother wandered over to her. "If you don't want to do this for your people, or the future of your home, do it for your father and me."

Keiseki looked at her mother, totally shocked. Her mother knew that they were the only ones Keiseki would not openly defy. Asking her to do it for them was as good as having it done.

Keiseki's shocked face looked a mixture of hurt and anger. She couldn't look at her mother anymore. She heard Lady Minako sigh very loudly and then heard footsteps retreat out of the room.

Her tears came the second her mother was out of the room.

'What can I do?' she thought frantically. She looked around her room hoping for some kind of answer, but none came.

She'd never defied her parents before, well not openly, and not on something so important. She couldn't do it now, could she? She'd be a disgrace to her family if she didn't go through with it.

But if she did she'd be Mrs. Pompous snob. Keiseki really didn't think she could spend her whole life with him, as handsome as he may be.

"I can't marry him," she told herself. "I can't be a perfect noble wife, at least not yet."

'I'm sorry mother, father.' She hung her head down.

* * *

"Do you sense any shards close by?"

"No," Kagome replied, looking at Inuyasha in apology.

"I don't get it. Naraku has been heading this way for the past week and all of the sudden there's no trace of him?" Inuyasha replied, angrily.

"I'm not sure Inuyasha," Miroku replied from behind Sango, both on Kilala's back. "But I'm certain Naraku is near."

"Oh yeah, how can you be so certain monk?" Inuyasha snarked back.

"Can't you feel it Inuyasha, that dark aura?" Sango asked.

Kagome shuddered from her position behind Inuyasha's back. "It feels like something bad is going to happen. I'm glad we left Shippou with Kaede."

Despite the bad feelings around, Kagome felt considerably better. Better than she'd felt in weeks, all due to a certain hanyou's confession of love. Inuyasha's gruff demeanor and bad tempered ways had not changed, but just knowing that Inuyasha really did care about her brought a smile to her face.

After a week long break, where there was no lead in finding Naraku, Naraku himself had only just shown himself to the group at the beginning of the new week. He taunted them, hinted at his real location, and caused a path of destruction that he knew too well that they'd follow. But the path of destruction had ceased and now they did not know which way to go.

"What should we do?" Kagome asked.

"I think that Naraku wants to come to us and not the other way around," Miroku answered logically. "We should stay put?"

"And be easy targets? No way!" Inuyasha scoffed.

"Then which way should we go Inuyasha? There's no clue to which direction Naraku is in. All there is is this dark aura," Miroku argued.

"Fine," Inuyasha muttered.

They all fell silent as Inuyasha continued to run forward, with Kilala flying close by until Kagome exclaimed, "Look there's a village up ahead, maybe we can find somewhere to stay for the night."

Nobody said anything, but they headed that way none the less.

* * *

Well that's it. I hope you enjoy and stick around for the rest of the story or at least the next few chapters.

Thanks for all the great reviews for the last chapter. I hope to get some more.

Thanks.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** So, I got zero response for Chapter 2 of this story. I was discouraged for a bit. But I'm back with a third chapter. I hope you enjoy. Please R&R! Thanks!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Inuyasha.

**Chapter 3:**

Keiseki strolled into the main inn of the village she stumbled upon, after she'd tended to her horse in the inn's stables. After a long, hard journey Keiseki wanted nothing more than to lie down and sleep for days.

She took a good look around the inn's main room; there were tables that were occupied by many rowdy men. There was a bar at the far end and behind it was a man that she hoped was the Innkeeper.

Keiseki walked straight for him. As she approached, the man watched her with a critical eye.

"Please sir, I'd like a room for the night," she said politely.

The man didn't say anything; she stared at him as the man stared from her face down to her black leather training/traveling outfit and lingered a second at the sword at her hip, then straight back to her black/red hair that was caught up in a pony tail.

"You look familiar…" the man finally said suspiciously.

"Do I?" she answered trying her hardest not to sound guilty.

"They say only the noble family has the hair of two colors," he stated growing more suspicious by the second.

She laughed airily hoping to sound like what he said was ridiculous to her. "I assure you, it is quite common in the capitol."

He took in what she said and continued to stare for one more moment and then turned to grab a key. He handed it to her, demanding payment and told her she could either take her meal in her room or downstairs. She opted for downstairs.

Keiseki went up to the room the man had indicated and went inside to find bare basics, a bed, and a table in the corner with a chair tucked underneath.

She sat down at the chair and waited for the water she'd ordered to freshen up with to be brought to her. And sure enough, a young lady brought it promptly.

Keiseki quickly opened her bag and pulled out the few possessions she'd allowed herself to take before she'd fled her home the night before her own wedding. A fancy beaded comb for her hair, given to her by her mother for her twelfth birthday; a sketch an artist had done of her parents once (now thoroughly wrinkled); and a sky blue, flower printed kimono with a matching plain blue head scarf.

She changed into the slightly wrinkled kimono and tied her hair back with the scarf. People were bound to know of the noble lady running away from her home and her hair would be sure to draw attention.

Cleaning up the best she could she went downstairs to have that meal. She chose a table in a far corner and waited for it to be brought to her. She dug in as soon as the simple, but tasty food was put in front of her.

She watched the people around her as she ate. Sheltered all her life, Keiseki had never truly been around regular people before. Sure she had some friends in the palace's army but it wasn't the same. They had always watched their manners around her. These people were in their element. She was quite enthralled by their actions.

Everything seemed ordinary until a group of travelers stepped into the inn. Keiseki counted two women- one oddly dressed- and two men. But it was the man with the beautiful long silver hair, amber eyes, and cute dog ears that had Keiseki truly entranced.

Keiseki watched as he slowly walked behind the two women, casting a wary glance around the room before he proceeded.

It's like time slowed down as she watched his every step, his every movement. She just couldn't seem to take her eyes off of him.

And then the strangely dressed woman let out a loud squeal, breaking Keiseki's trance. The girl turned toward the dog-eared man and said loudly, "I can't believe this, an inn! We get to sleep in proper beds and maybe even get baths!"

The girl turned around, totally missing the man's breathtaking, small smile before he replied gruffly, "Kagome, what's with you and baths? Are you like part fish or something?"

The girl, Kagome, turned back around and rudely stuck her tongue out at the man. "I feel filthy Inuyasha. Traveling around for days doesn't exactly leave you feeling squeaky clean."

"Feh, whatever. You smell fine to me," the man, Inuyasha, replied.

Kagome pinked noticeably before she walked quickly towards the Innkeeper, while the other two companions giggled quietly.

'Inuyasha huh? Dog demon, is he full youkai?' she asked herself as she watched the group argue with the innkeeper. 'The others are definitely human. And wait… is that a fire cat in the other girls arms?'

She stared with wonder at the group: the weirdly dressed girl, Kagome; the dog-eared man, Inuyasha; a man with a staff dressed in monk robes; and the girl with the fire cat demon and a large weapon strapped to her back. They were a weird looking bunch and Keiseki would have loved to hear their story.

But the sight was short lived and the group was already heading upstairs. Deciding to follow their example, she started to head upstairs. The food she'd just eaten made her thoroughly tired and all she wanted to do was sleep.

* * *

"All right, so Sango and I will take one room and you and Kagome can have the other," Miroku announced brightly and optimistically to Inuyasha. 

"Wrong monk. Kagome and I will take one room and _you_ and Inuyasha can take the other," Sango quickly corrected.

Kagome and Sango turned towards a room while Miroku sulked.

"But Sango how is that going to be any fun?" Miroku whined.

"You'll figure out something to do with Inuyasha. I'm sure your plans will work just fine with him," Sango called over her shoulder.

Kagome giggled, and Inuyasha let out an annoyed, "Hey." While Miroku just looked disturbed.

The girls closed the door behind them.

"Come on monk!" Inuyasha said gruffly, pulling Miroku into their room.

"But Inuyasha, surely now that you and Kagome have now made your feelings clear you'd insist on sharing a room with her," Miroku implored. "Go… insist."

"Miroku, will you knock it off! Sango doesn't want to be near you right now," Inuyasha insisted.

"I don't know why. I didn't do anything wrong," Miroku replied indignantly.

Inuyasha took up his crouched position on the floor in the corner of the room. "What, you call ogling a village girl while practically engaged to Sango not wrong? You are stupider then I thought."

"I was merely admiring her outfit and wondering how it would look on Sango," he replied instantly.

"Yeah, keep telling yourself that," Inuyasha added gruffly. "Now shut up and get some sleep."

Miroku let out a long-suffering sigh but gave up and did as told.

* * *

"I see you and Inuyasha are getting along much better now," Sango announced to Kagome as she brushed her hair. 

Kagome let out a content sigh, smiled and said, "Yeah, well we had a nice little conversation that fixed everything."

Sango noticed her friends cheeks redden. "Does that mean you told him how you feel?"

"Yes," Kagome said breathlessly. "And he feels the exact same."

"That's wonderful Kagome!" Sango exclaimed, clapping her hands together. "I kept telling you he loves you, but you wouldn't listen."

"Yeah, well…." she trailed off, slightly embarrassed by her previous reluctance. "What about you and Miroku? You're engaged to him that's just as awesome!"

Sango frowned. "Not engaged, promised to be engaged," Sango reminder her. "Though I'm not too sure I'll be keeping my promise."

"Oh Sango, I'll admit Miroku is the biggest lecher I've ever met, but I know he loves you completely," Kagome encouraged.

"But is it so much to ask that he doesn't outright ogle another woman in front of me? I don't expect him not to look at another woman ever again, but I just want him to be at least thinking clean thoughts when he does," Sango explained her frustration. "Actually forget that. It is too much to ask from him." She tried to joke and she forced out a smile that came out sad looking. Kagome instantly frowned. "Forget it, let's just go to bed."

They both settled into the bed they were sharing. Kagome was still frowning. She decided that she owed Miroku a good slap in the face for Sango's sake and decided to do it first thing tomorrow. With that in mind she smiled to herself and was able to cheerfully say, "Good night Sango," right before drifting off to sleep.

* * *

So that's the third chapter. I hope to get some kind of response. So let me know what you think. 

Thanks!


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** I added more to the title of this story because I'm planning 2 more stories after this one. I hope you enjoy this chapter. Please R&R! Thanks!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Inuyasha.

**Chapter 4:**

"Now which way?" Keiseki said, rather glumly, to herself.

Keiseki woke up early that morning, set on leaving the village quickly so as not to draw anymore attention to herself. But now as she stood on the outskirts of said village she suddenly realized she had no idea what she was doing.

So intent was she on fleeing her home a week ago that she hadn't stopped to think through a plan. She had no idea which direction to travel in, other than as far away from home as possible. And then that thought alone, not seeing her parents ever again, made her want to cry. And then there was the fact that if she wasn't going to be a noble lady any longer; what exactly was she going to do to support herself?

Standing there, looking every which way, hoping for a clue, she thoroughly felt like crying. And to her amazement she did just that. Slumping down onto the ground she let herself shed tears for her own miserable existence.

"I still think we should stay where we are," Keiseki heard a familiar voice say, from some distance away.

"Look, we'll go to a couple neighboring villages, see how far Naraku's stench extends then maybe we can find the center of it. And get to him," a gruff voice replied.

Keiseki didn't know who Naraku was, but she did know that the gruff voice belonged to the demon Inuyasha. He was coming her way.

Keiseki smiled unconsciously as she listened for their approach.

"That sounds like a good plan Inuyasha," she heard a girls voice, Kagome's, ring out.

"Don't sound too surprised," Inuyasha replied, sarcastically.

Their other two companions laughed in the background.

There was a pause in their conversation and then Inuyasha announced loudly, "Hold on there's someone ahead." Keiseki froze, not daring to move an inch. "Nah… never mind, it's just a human girl."

At his proclamation of her being 'just a human girl,' she felt a sudden wave of indignation. 'Well this human girl could probably kick your butt,' she thought.

With that last thought, the group of interesting looking people came into view. She was ready to greet them, but they just continued on with their conversation, not noticing her.

Suddenly angry, she blurted out, "I can't believe you're just going to ignore me like that!"

The two girls stopped and turned to look at her. The girl, whose name she did not know, seemed to soften and said, "Wait Inuyasha. This girl has been crying, we should stop to see what's wrong."

"Feh," Inuyasha answered. Keiseki spared Inuyasha an incredulous glower and seriously reconsidered her previous awe of him. Well that is until his left ear twitched and she couldn't help but think that he was totally adorable.

Inuyasha and the other man turned to her and she caught a weird gleam in the man's eye before he hurried to her.

"What is wrong fair maiden? My name is Miroku, I am a monk. I'll be glad to assist you in any and everything," the man, Miroku announced, grabbing her hand.

Instinctively Keiseki's other hand rose up and slapped Miroku on the cheek.

The nameless girl smiled happily. "Nice one. I've been meaning to do that all week."

Keiseki watched confusedly while the girl pulled the monk, Miroku, away by the ear, while he said indignantly, "Why is everyone slapping me today. First Kagome, now this girl. I didn't do anything."

Keiseki heard Inuyasha let out a disbelieving snort and she smiled at him. Kagome came to kneel in front of her while Inuyasha stood right behind her with his arms crossed staring off into the distance.

"My name's Kagome. This is Inuyasha, that's Sango, and well you now know Miroku too," Kagome introduced, pointing everyone out.

Keiseki wiped her eyes quickly and sniffled, "I'm Keiseki."

"Is there anything we can do to help you?" Kagome asked gently.

"I… I don't know," Keiseki answered, all of the sudden feeling sad over her current predicament. Another tear slipped.

"Oh man, you made her cry again," Inuyasha said, uncomfortably.

Keiseki watched as Kagome shot Inuyasha a glare. She turned back to her and patted her on the back. "It's all right. Maybe if you tell us what's wrong we can help you out?"

Keiseki didn't know what to do. These people sincerely seemed to want to help her, but on the other hand she didn't know them at all, and didn't know if she could trust them.

"Hey, it's all right, you don't have to tell us if you don't want to," Kagome told her, understandingly.

The understanding in her voice made Keiseki feel like she should continue. "I well… I ran away from home."

"Any particular reason why?" Sango asked.

"My parents were going to force me to marry a man that I don't love or like," Keiseki answered, leaving out who exactly her parents were.

"Sounds tough; looks like you've got some nasty parents," Kagome commented.

"Not true!" Keiseki blurted out. She loved her parents and didn't want them slandered by anyone. "My parents love me; they're just trying to do what's best for their people." Realizing what she said, she pressed a hand to her mouth, as if that could take back her already said words.

"Their people?" Inuyasha said suspiciously.

She looked around and saw the monk staring at her shrewdly. He took a few steps toward her and said, "You wouldn't by chance be Lady Keiseki, daughter of the Lord and Lady of the Northern lands, would you?"

Keiseki stared back at him shocked, but didn't answer; his friends turned their questioning gazes on him.

"While we were at the Inn, I overheard some men talking about the Lady running away right before her wedding day," Miroku explained to them. "Well are you?"

Everyone turned to stare at her, she was sure she was bright red. She looked down and nodded her head. She was found out.

"I see," Miroku said.

"My parents are afraid that the youkai lord of the Western lands will one day choose to attack our lands. They wanted to ally themselves with neighboring lords. They chose to marry me off to the Lord of the Southern lands. That man is a pompous snob and I'm not ready for marriage. And I've also seen no evidence that the youkai lord is planning an attack," Keiseki hastily explained.

"Sesshoumaru huh?" Inuyasha said. "Figures he'd have something to do with this."

Keiseki looked at Inuyasha confusedly. And Kagome quickly explained. "Sesshoumaru is the youkai lord and Inuyasha's half brother."

Keiseki quickly brightened up. "Then surely you'd know if he has any devices on our lands."

Inuyasha let out an indelicate snort. "Not likely. Sesshoumaru and I don't really do much talking when we see each other."

Keiseki didn't know what he meant so she let his comment go.

"So what are you doing now?" Kagome asked.

"I decided to flee the night before my wedding day. I've been running for a week. But I've just realized I don't have a place to go to, a future," Keiseki answered sadly, sniffling a bit.

Inuyasha stood up and turned his back towards the group. "Well good luck with that, because well, see we've got our own quest and we don't have time to fix your life."

"Inuyasha!" Kagome shouted. "How can you be such an insensitive jerk?"

Keiseki looked at him too, wondering the exact same thing. She didn't expect them to 'fix her life,' but it would have been nice to get a suggestion or something like that.

Inuyasha turned to stare at the group. "Listen if we don't get a move on we'll definitely lose track of Naraku's saiyoumusho. He's leading us somewhere and I definitely want to be there and get the jewel shards back."

"Jewel shards?" Keiseki inquired. "The Shikon no tama jewel shards?"

"Yes, now can we go?" Inuyasha asked impatiently, starting to walk ahead.

"Wait!" Keiseki blurted out quickly. "I can help you."

Inuyasha was about to reply, most likely to say something rude, but Miroku beat him to it.

"Forgive me Lady Keiseki, but how can one as beautiful as you help us?"

Keiseki heard a growl come from Sango but answered, "I am trained to fight."

"Trained to fight?" Inuyasha scoffed.

"Yes, I've trained with the commander of our army since I was able to move on my own."

"Uh huh, whatever," Inuyasha replied.

"Do you want proof?" Keiseki replied angrily, drawing the sword at her hip.

Inuyasha gave her a hard stare, as if measuring her up. He looked from her diminutive figure to the large sword she managed to hold up. He turned abruptly around tucking his arms in opposite sleeves. "Feh. You can come but don't expect me to save you from every youkai we come across."

"I won't," she replied sturdily.

"You say you can fight, then you fight," he added.

"I will."

"Fine, then lets go," Inuyasha said.

Kagome climbed onto Inuyasha's back, and Sango and Miroku onto Kilala's. They all looked at Keiseki expectantly.

"I left my horse behind in the village, I can go get her," Keiseki offered.

"You do that!" was Inuyasha's quick reply. "We'll wait here. Hurry up."

She turned to run for the village but stopped, looking back at them. "You guys aren't going to leave and abandon me are you?" she asked suspiciously.

"Don't worry, we're sticking around," Kagome answered. And Keiseki knew she could trust her smiling face, so she ran for the village.

Miroku turned to Inuyasha once Keiseki was off. "Inuyasha why did you agree to let her come?"

"Because fighting Naraku, we're going to need all the help we can get," Inuyasha answered, staring off in the distance at the small girl.

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I hope you enjoyed. I'll try to update soon. Leave a review and let me know what you think.

Thanks to my two reviewers: **Inuyasha'sangel89 and iluvthecatsohma52**. Thanks a lot.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** Hello again, wow it's been over two years since I last updated, that sucks on my part. Hope no one was really waiting for this story. I had it on hold for awhile, because of my many other ongoing fics. But, I've got to get working on this, considering that this story is the first of three stories. Anyways, please R&R! Thanks!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Inuyasha.

**Chapter 5:**

"Kagome," Keiseki started as she poked at the fire with a stick. "Do you mind if I ask you about your um… unique clothing?"

"No, it's all right," Kagome answered good-naturedly, glancing at Inuyasha quickly, as if to make sure it was all right with him as well. He didn't seem to care. "I'm not exactly from around here."

"You mean you are not from this province," Keiseki stated as if in understanding.

"No, I am, but…" she started, trying to figure out how to word what she was about to say. "I'm from another time."

"Another time?" Keiseki questioned.

"Five hundred years into the future, that is," Kagome elaborated.

"What?" Keiseki said, stunned.

"I am able to travel between this time and my own," Kagome answered calmly. "There is a well back in our village. When we go back, I'll show you."

Keiseki shook her head, as if to clear it from the daze. "Can you all do this?"

"No," Miroku answered. "Only Kagome and Inuyasha."

"Inuyasha?"

"Yes," Kagome confirmed.

"Hmm…" Keiseki considered this. "That is…"

"Strange? Yeah, I know," Kagome agreed. "I sometimes think that this whole mess with Naraku started because of me."

Keiseki had been told by the others about Naraku and how they were drawn together. But, in their entire story telling, she had totally missed how any of it could be Kagome's fault. And Miroku and Sango were quick to tell her this.

"Why do you believe that Kagome?" Keiseki asked.

"Well the shikon jewel was in my body," Kagome started. "I got sucked here by a demon who wanted the jewel. In the end I was the one who shattered it into a million pieces."

Before Keiseki could reassure her, Inuyasha came to her defence. "Keh! That wasn't your fault. Naraku is a bastard because he's a bastard, not because you made him one." He stood up abruptly and said. "I'm going to look for more fire wood, want to come Kagome?"

Kagome stared at him gratefully and then quickly got to her feet to follow. "Sure!"

And they were quickly out of sight.

Keiseki looked at the fire which was in no danger of dying out any time soon.

"Kagome and Inuyasha are… together?" Keiseki wondered out loud.

"Yes," Sango answered. "They care for each other."

"Inuyasha seems very… sweet," Keiseki said, suddenly remembering another man who made her feel the same way. "I once met a man who had the same hair and eye color as Inuyasha. I suppose he was the Lord of the Western Lands."

"Sesshoumaru, Inuyasha's brother," Miroku stated.

"Yes. He was also very kind and sweet. But, he seemed gentler than Inuyasha in his manner," Keiseki said in admiration.

Miroku and Sango stared at her strangely.

"I'm not sure this is the same Sesshoumaru that we're talking about," Miroku commented.

"How come?"

"Sesshoumaru hates humans. That's why he hates Inuyasha, because he's half human," Miroku explained.

"No, this Sesshoumaru was very nice, he saved me," she insisted.

"Well, I don't know, he does protect Rin, and she's human," Sango offered.

"Rin?"

"Yes, a little girl that travels with him. I'm not sure how she came to be in his company, but I have a feeling he saved her too," Sango elaborated.

"As he did for me," Keiseki said simply. "I assure you he is most kind."

"We'll take your word on it," Miroku said, sceptically.

They sat in silence for awhile until Keiseki spoke again. "So are you two together?"

Sango blushed brightly and Miroku looked a little flustered.

* * *

"So what do you think of her?" Kagome asked from Inuyasha's back, as they jumped from tree to tree.

He finally settled into one before answering. "Who?"

"Keiseki," Kagome answered. "She's beautiful."

"I guess," Inuyasha answered.

Kagome knew she had set herself up for that, but it still stung.

"But, I know one person who is much more beautiful than her," she heard Inuyasha say.

She looked up, blushing. "Me?"

"Who else, wench?" he asked.

He said it gruffly, but Kagome knew that was his way of showing affection.

"Do you think it's crazy to trust her so quickly?" Kagome asked.

Kagome herself didn't get any bad vibes from Keiseki, but still they didn't know her at all.

"She wouldn't betray us. She's too scrawny to even try," Inuyasha replied.

"Hmm… well she sure knows what she's doing with that sword," Kagome said thoughtfully. "Maybe I'll ask her to give me some pointers."

"No way!" Inuyasha shouted.

Kagome turned to face him not hiding her indignation. "And why not?"

"Because… you have your bow and arrows," Inuyasha sputtered out.

"Well if I run out of arrows I'd like to know I'll have a back up plan," Kagome threw out.

Inuyasha growled in anger. He picked up Kagome and jumped down to the ground abruptly.

"Inuyasha!" she squeaked out. He placed her on the ground and started to stomp away. "Inuyasha… Inuyasha wait!" Kagome yelled out as she ran after him. He still didn't obey and she had to keep running to keep up with him. "Inuyasha don't make me say it, please!"

Inuyasha suddenly stopped in his tracks, his back turned to her. It wasn't until she had caught up that he turned around.

"I'm your back up, damn it!" he yelled.

"Inuyasha…" Kagome breathed out, taking a step back from his intensity.

"I'm supposed to protect you! And you don't trust me!" he continued.

"Wh- what are you talking about? I trust you completely. I love you!" she told him adamantly.

"Obviously you don't," he let out a snort. "You want to go learn how to fight because you don't think I'll be able to protect you always!"

Kagome gasped, suddenly realizing what this was all about. "Inuyasha, no… No, that's not the reason." Inuyasha crossed his arms and turned half way to the side. Kagome rushed to face him, placing her hands on his arms, she looked up at him. "I want to learn so I won't be such a burden to you."

Inuyasha suddenly grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her. "What are you talking about?"

This time she broke out of his grasp and turned away, hugging herself. "Inuyasha… you take me with you to these battles all the time… I know I can't do much. And half the time you end up putting yourself in danger to save me. I just thought if I learned to fight I wouldn't put you in danger as much."

Inuyasha let out a loud sigh. And then he was behind her. He placed one hand on her shoulder and the other around her waist. "Kagome… I'll always save you, no matter what. Even if you knew how to wield a sword I'd still protect you. It won't change. Because… I do love you."

Kagome smiled brightly, and then turned around in his arms. She leaned up and touched her lips to his in a gentle, yet hungry kiss. When they pulled apart Inuyasha pulled her close, hugging her tight, inhaling her sweet scent.

"Kagome… we'll be together forever…"

* * *

Well that's all for this chapter. I hope you enjoyed. Not sure when the next chapter will be up, since it's not written yet. But hopefully soon.

Anyways, leave me a review and tell me what you think.

Thanks!


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